Does Anyone Have Any Tips on 8 Hour Car Ride for Thanksgiving?

I know its passed Thanksgiving, but if you travel again you can always try traveling at night. My husband and I leave either at my childrens bed time at night or early, early morning before the sun comes up. Depending on how long the trip is. If you do that the kids just sleep the whole way. Its a relaxing drive. Take Care, T. Q

I had to take my baby to Oklahoma at 6 weeks then back to Idaho at 4 months. The only thing that saved me was having my mother with me in the back seat of the car. Since the carseat had to face backward, he was much happier that he could see someone. I have done a lot of driving with him since that time alone, and always loaded a huge bag of toys to have in the front seat with me. As soon as he dropped one toy and started crying, I would hand him the next toy. By the end of the trip, they were all in the back seat with him! One lifesaver toy I bought was a toy that lights up when you push a button. I bought it at Target for less than $4 and it has been worth more than $100.

Don't worry, it will be fine. It will take a little longer to get there with the frequent stops you will have to make, but make sure she isn't too hot and but isn't too cold. don't over heat her with blankets just because you are in a car. A car can get hot for a baby without ever thinking it. I took my kids to colorado when she was only 2 months and my son was 2 and we did have to make more frequent stops but it wasn't bad at all. Just made sure to have plenty of bottles and maybe even a warmer just so you have one in the car ready to go. You Will be fine. Don't panic, it will be a adventure.

Go purchase Baby Einstein, Baby Motzart or Bethoven. those are best for babies and get a portable Dvd player, she will love that during fussy moments, I agree with the other posters go at night so she can sleep most of the way. The lull of the car should keep her asleep all night. I also agree with the other poster too, sit with her during fussy moments and talk to her play with her. Good Luck. S.

Hi there O.,

My daughter Sara was about 5.5 months when I took her on her first long trip of 10 hours from Northern California to Idaho. I couldn't agree more with the other ladies night drive is the best. At the time I didn't have a portable DVD player but I did have childrens music on CD that seem to help keep her calm. I was acutally driving myself (hubby stayed home to work) so I had to make more stops than expected. I did drive at night and she slept most of the drive just waking up for a bottle and diaper changes. Good Luck on your trip! Have a great thanksgiving.

We did the drive from ID to the Bay Area when my son was 6 mo old and he was a lot easier than I thought he would be. We left at 7:30 am got coffee and hit the road. Surprisingly, he stuck pretty close to his usual schedule. At your daughter's age, entertainment is going to be soft toys or rattles, and seeing your face every once in a while. In terms of feeding, if you are exclusively breast feeding, your trip will be much longer as you will have to stop to feed her. Our is on a bottle and so we would pull over, I would jump in the back, we had all the stuff handy for me to make a bottle, and I would make it and feed it to him while he was still in his seat, husband driving. We would change him at the same time we would make our own potty stops. If they had a changing table where we stopped, I would use that, and if not, on the seat of the car. We would keep the radio off or low during his naps and once used a warm bottle to help put him to sleep. Also, I kept in mind that if it took longer or wore us out, we could stop in Reno, but we didn't need to. Good luck, it will likely be easier than you think!

Get up early on the day of your trip and wear her out (playing), then hopefully she will fall asleep. Stop every two hours to change/feed (unless still sleeping). Halfway through the trip make a pit stop and wear her out again, hopefully another nap will follow. Repeat as needed. Once she gets a little older a portable DVD player is a fantastic invention for parents who have to travel. We got one from my husband's parents last christmas and we have worn it out with multiple drives and plane rides. It has been a life saver! Hoever, she is probably too young to care much about that yet.

O.,
Ha we are the road trip family, 25 hour road trips at least twice a year. If I had a 4 and a half month old, I would drive during the night and just let her sleep in her car seat... If that won't work out for you, she's still really little and shoudn't need to much entertaining, if you are nursing then just pull over at a rest stop and sit down out side, let you and her breath in some fresh air and then get right back to it... I think it will go a lot smother then you think, babies travel pretty well. Some times she might just want you to sit and the back seat and talk to her, but other then that I can't imagine she will need much more. Change her when you guys stop to go potty and she'll be great....

Hope this makes you feel less worried, it's really pretty easy when they are this age.

H.

I travel every other weekend to Couer d alene,ID which is an 8 hour trip and let me tell you plan on taking lots of breaks with kids! You can plan on what ever time it takes to normally get there plus 2 to 3 hours extra. Bring an extra blanket so you can change baby on the seat in the back...this helps cut time also have a few bottles ready to go in a cooler when it is about time to feed again take one out and set it above the heater on the dash this will warm it up just enough and also limits the amount of stops you have to make to make bottles or breast feed. If you formula feed you can always bring warm water in a thermos. hope this helps and have a safe trip

My kid was a marathon nurser. He wanted to nurse at an hour at a stretch always, not conducive to road trips. I got a car power adapter for my breast pump and could sit in the back seat, pump and then immediately give it to him in a bottle while my husband drove.

The one thing about that is make sure she is used to bottles before you get in the car. And make sure you have extra bottles.

4.5 months she should be mostly sleeping or wanting to look at things. Toys on her car seat, and a bunch of toys you can hand her that she can play with. I think she's too young for videos.

And relax, if you're a few hours late it's not the end of the world. Remember it's supposed to be fun.

O.,
Hi! My husband and I have taken many LONG car trips, and so I've got several ideas.

First, remember that your little guy will probably find a car ride relaxing and will sleep a large majority of the time. But another thing my husband and I found useful is planning. For example, I would nap during the day with my little one and when my husband got home that night we would take off and drive the night route, knowing that our little one would be asleep all night and we wouldn't have to even both trying to keep them entertained. After my husband takes a cat nap then he would drive and I would sleep. I'm sure when you arrive where you are going the grandparents would love to watch the little guy for you while you and your husband catch a few more hours of sleep.

Also, you can purcahse those little travel dvd players for a vehicle and pop in a baby einsten video. I think Walmart has a 3 month return policy on these types of items if you buy it and then find you didn't really use it or something.

There are several toys you can attach to car seats that tend to keep babies occupied, or occasionally you can sit in the back seat. Also, there are some really wonderful kids CDs by little people and baby einstein. My guy ALWAYS calms down to listen to the little people's kids favorite songs CD.

I hope these suggestions help. Have a great holiday and safe travels!

Dez

Whenever we take our daughter on a trip we go at night. We leave at her normal bed time and she usually sleeps the entire trip. I have also sat in the back seat with her on day trips and read her stories, sang songs, and played. I have even nursed her in her car seat, just leaned over to her. She has always been good on trips. Drive safely and have a great holiday.

I wouldn't worry too much about it. Your baby will most likely sleep most of the way. My kids still do, and they're 10 & 17!

Hi O.,
We took our son on a long trip after xmas. He was 7 months old. We went to Louisiana to see his grandparents. When we stopped for gas is when we fed him. We had an outlet in the back of our car to warm up his bottle. Ive tried those bottle warmers in the ciggarette lighter and it takes too long to heat up when you need it asap. You can have an outlet installed in the back . Just ask.
Plus, we stopped to eat at a restaurant in between instead of the drive through. Not everytime but just to stretch out our legs. Sometimes I would feed the baby in the car. He slept through it. Which was great! The ride made him sleepy. My husband wanted to get there quick. Going there was no problem but coming back was. My son wanted to be out of his car seat really bad. Our mistake we didnt stop as much like we did before and I would next time. My huband was too eager. Good luck!
B.

Here is the only tip I have. Plan on it being about 14 hours not 8-10. just becasue she wont want to be in the car that long also go at night if she is sleeping thought the night now because it will be easier. I used a protable DVD player when I went to arizona it was only like 5 hours but mine are toddlers. also get a cooler for the bottles because you wont want to stop during feedings. thats the quiet time.
and BE SAFE!!!! May God Bless you on your trip.

i have to agree with the other womens responses. i have 4 kids and have done the 30 hours in the car trips from Mt to Calif and do it at night it will make yours and hubbys life easier.And if she wakes up in the night stop and buy some gas or coffee while you are in the back seat feeding or changing the baby at least that is what i have done for years. hope your trip goes easy.....

Go at a time when she is most like to sleep. Otherwise, don't stress too much. At that age, a baby can still be quite happy staring into space. (Remember: It isn't always your job to "entertain" her.) She'll sleep. She'll wake up. If you are bottlefeeding, you can sit in the backsit and feed her while your husband keeps driving. (Fasten your seatbelt too.) If not, pull over, nurse her and put her back in and go. Talk to her a little and most likely, she'll just fall asleep when it is nap time.

It will be much easier than you imagine.